USC Advances in Women’s Volleyball

Eighth-seeded USC, 15th-seeded UCLA, Long Beach State and 13th-seeded UC Santa Barbara were among the Southland teams advancing Friday in the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball playoffs.

USC took the biggest step forward, winning its second-round match over Kansas State, 30-19, 30-25, 30-19, in front of 700 at the Lyon Center.

The victory pushed the Trojans (21-5) into the regional semifinals next week at Louisville, Ky.

Keao Burdine led USC with a match-high 19 kills, and Emily Adams and Alicia Robinson each added 11.

Vali Hejjas’ 11 kills topped Kansas State (20-11).

The Trojans will next play the winner of tonight’s second-round match between host San Diego (23-4) and Arizona (19-10).

The Wildcats advanced to that matchup by defeating UC Irvine, 30-19, 30-17, 30-18. Irvine, which had no players in double figures in kills, ends the season with an 18-11 record.

In first-round matches at UCLA, the Bruins defeated Loyola Marymount, 30-28, 30-23, 27-30, 30-22, and the 49ers swept Utah, 30-19, 30-25, 33-31. Loyola ends the season 17-2.

That set up a second-roundup matchup at 7 tonight at Pauley Pavilion between UCLA (19-10) and Long Beach State (24-6).

Makini Thompson finished with 16 kills and Robin Miramontes had 12 as the 49ers advanced to the second round of the tournament for the first time since 2001.

Dyanne Lawlor and Alexis Crimes each added 10 kills for Long Beach State.

Shelley Summerfeldt was the lone player for Utah (24-7) with double figures in kills, tying for match-high honors with 16.

The 49ers were in control from the beginning, opening an 11-4 lead in the first game and eventually pulling away. The third game provided the closest action, with Utah having a game point at 30-29, but Thompson erased that with a kill.

Thompson’s final kill of the match gave Long Beach State a 32-31 lead, and Utah’s Liana Bortoto hit the ball into the net on the next point to secure the 49er sweep.

At Atlanta, UC Santa Barbara (24-3) recorded a 33-31, 30-23, 30-11 sweep of Alabama A&M.;

The Gauchos will play Georgia Tech (26-6) today.

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UCLA and Stanford, featuring two of the nation’s best players in the Bruins’ Brett Ormsby and Stanford’s Tony Azevedo, could meet for a fifth time this season with a title at stake in the NCAA men’s water polo championships that begin today at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center.

Stanford (22-4) will play Loyola Marymount (20-10) in a semifinal at 3 p.m. followed by the match between UCLA (23-3) and Princeton (25-4). The winners will meet Sunday at 2 p.m.

Stanford ended UCLA’s 18-match winning streak last Sunday with 7-6 victory in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship match. The teams have split the previous four meetings.

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Times staff writer Eric Stephens contributed to this report.